Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo accused of being the 'clown' of the paddock

Martin Macdonald Tuesday 10 December 2019 10:50

Ricciardo accused of being the 'clown' of the paddock

Formula 1 commentator Olav Mol has suggested that Daniel Ricciardo will only gain success in the sport if he stops acting like the “clown” among the drivers, and starts to take things more seriously.

Last year the Australian made the surprising decision to move from Red Bull to Renault, with the French manufacturer having aspirations of potential bridging the gap to the top three.

That didn’t happen, though, with McLaren instead emerging as the ‘best of the rest’ constructor team.

Mol thinks Ricciardo’s attitude hasn’t helped Renault progress.

“He has not improved,” he told Formule1.

“Wanting to be the clown of the paddock is not good enough. Ricciardo is very nice and super PR, but on the job?

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“In Brazil he came from the back to the front but aside from that I have not seen enough ‘real Ricciardo moments’.

“And I haven’t seen him make Renault better. He has to be less cheerful and hit the table more.”

Ricciardo is known for being a prankster in and around the paddock, but up until now has not been accused of being too “cheerful”.

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Ricciardo accused of being the 'clown' of the paddock

Ricciardo accused of being the 'clown' of the paddock